Wayne McGregor

Biography

English choreographer Wayne McGregor was appointed Resident Choreographer of The Royal Ballet in 2006, becoming the first contemporary choreographer to hold the post. His many works for The Royal Ballet include Raven Girl (2013), Ambar (2012), ‘Machina’ (part of Metamorphosis: Titian 2012), Carbon Life (2012), Live Fire Exercise (2011), Limen (2009), Infra (2008), Nimbus (2007), Chroma (2006), Engram (2005), Qualia (2003) and Symbiont(s) (2001). He directed and choreographed Dido and Aeneas and Acis and Galatea (2009) for The Royal Ballet and The Royal Opera. He curated Deloitte Ignite 2008 and directs Draft Works, an annual celebration of developing choreographic talent within the Company.

McGregor was born in Stockport and studied at Bretton Hall, West Yorkshire, and the José Limón School, New York. In 1992 he founded Wayne McGregor | Random Dance, now a resident company of Sadler's Wells. His interest in cross-discipline collaboration has seen him work across dance, film, music, visual art, technology and science. McGregor has created works for Paris Opera Ballet, San Francisco Ballet, Stuttgart Ballet, New York City Ballet, Australian Ballet, ENB, NDT1 and Rambert, among others. His works are also in the repertories of leading companies including the Bolshoi, Royal Danish Ballet, Boston Ballet and Joffrey Ballet. He has directed movement for theatre and film, including Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, and music videos, including the Grammy-nominated Lotus Flower for Radiohead.

In 2012 McGregordelivered a TED talk on the choreographic process and in 2014 presented the exhibition Thinking with the Body at the Wellcome Collection. He was appointed a CBE in 2011.